Second update (below): Max Rice tells Raw Story he wanted to prove that ‘Fox News is a fake news organization’

Fox News host Gretchen Carlson cut an interview short on Monday morning after her guest, a so-called “former Obama supporter” and recent college graduate, didn’t seem to comprehend her questions or his reason for being on the show.

While it’s not clear what was going on with the man, identified as Max Rice, he didn’t seem to understand how television interviews work, offered insincere answers to Carlson’s questions, and even awkwardly hit on her.

“Hello Miss USA,” he said after being introduced. “It’s an honor. I wish I could see you.”

“Miss America, but close enough,” she corrected him.

“Miss America,” Rice said. “Miss Universe in my book, in my book.”

“Now, tell me your story,” Carlson prompted. “You believed in the hope and change of President Obama until you voted for him. Now, tell me the next…”

“Oh, I was a huge Obama supporter in 2008,” he replied. “I met him in third grade. I met him when I was little. What’s your question?”

“And why now are you supporting Mitt Romney?” she asked.

“Why am I supporting Mitt Romney? Well, it’s actually a funny story,” he began. “I lost a basketball game to a friend of mine… he’s a huge supporter of this show.”

Several seconds of silence followed. “Okay, so it sounds like you’re not being very serious about…” Carlson began.

“Oh, I’m also disappointed in the direction Obama has taken this nation,” Rice injected. “I will be casting my ballot for Mitt Romney.”

She tried to get him to talk more about moving back in with his parents after college, but Rice brushed it off: “I’m back on my own, independent. I’m on national TV. I feel like I’m doing good. It’s an honor.”

“Okay, well, are you being serious about this interview or not?” Carlson asked.

“Yeah,” Rice said, grinning. “I can’t see your face right now. This is so weird.”

That was about enough for Carlson. “Alright, actually we’re going to wrap this up now, I’m not sure you’re being totally serious about this.”

He objected, but that was it. “I’m not sure you’re ready for prime time yet on this interview,” Carlson said. “Alright, we’re going to give Max another chance when he’s ready to do the interview.”

As it turns out, the man who appeared on Fox News Monday morning is an aspiring stand-up comedian from Austin, Texas who’s featured in YouTube video telling jokes about raping children and claiming that he wants to be a porn star.

“On winter break in Mexico, Juarez, Mexico, is fucking sick you know?” he said. “Juarez is some real GTA shit, you know? You can do anything. You can fuck kids. You can fuck kids. You can kill people. Fuck all of you people. I do not care.”

Rice added: “Fuck all of you guys. Usually when I tell jokes people laugh. I’ll just make fun of you fucks. That’s on YouTube. Jack off to me, fuckin’ 65-year-old freak. I’m talking to my Internet fans, not you 13 useless fucks in the comedy place. Yeah, what the fuck. I want to be a porn star. I mean, I’m dabbling in careers. If this is not working out I might become a porn star.”

A Fox News Channel spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Second update: Max Rice tells Raw Story he wanted to prove that ‘Fox News is a fake news organization’

Speaking to Raw Story on the phone Monday morning, the man who pranked Fox News said he’s always believed “Fox News is a fake news organization,” and explained that he wanted to shame the conservative television channel for being “stupid” and looking for interview subjects as if they were “casting a part in a show.”

Rice said that the opportunity to go on national television “kind of fell into my lap” when “a friend of a friend” got a text message asking if anyone knew a recent college graduate who can’t get a job and is voting for Mitt Romney. “I’m like, hell yeah I’m a college graduate. Eff Obama!” he said. “20 emails later with the producer at Fox, they’re telling me what to say. It’s such bullshit. It’s so ridiculous.”

Rice told Raw Story that he in fact dropped out of the University of Texas, but lied to Fox News about being a graduate just to see if they’d do their homework.

“The first thing that shocked me is that they were that desperate to find someone that fit that category,” he added. “What they were seeking is someone who voted for Obama in 2008, then somewhere in the last four years got disenfranchised and now is a huge Romney supporter. But I feel like anyone who fits that mold would also dis Romney at the same time. So, they just couldn’t find anyone. They’re in New York City, so they had to go find a kid in Chicago.”

Rice went on to say that he initially convinced them to do “a three person interview” with two of his friends, but a Fox News producer nixed that plan upon hearing a voice mail recording by one of the other guests that mimed the pedophile character from Fox’s “Family Guy.” They considered that to be “a liability,” Rice said, noting that they apparently didn’t see his vulgar, incendiary stand-up routine on YouTube. “[The producer] obviously had never seen ‘Family Guy’ before either,” Rice added.

“They were so happy that I fit the mold and that I was Caucasian,” he continued. “They were just casting a part in a show. They were so stupid… I’m a kid messing around. They had 10 days to ask for my driver’s license. They saw my [high school] commencement speech video, but they’re too stupid to realize that if I graduated in 2010, I wouldn’t graduate college until 2014. That’s why I was so awkward in the interview. I wasn’t going to lie.”

“I want this story to get out because I think it’s bigger than just me,” he concluded.
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About the Author

Stephen C. Webster is the senior editor of Raw Story, and is based out of Austin, Texas. He previously worked as the associate editor of The Lone Star Iconoclast in Crawford, Texas, where he covered state politics and the peace movement’s resurgence at the start of the Iraq war. Webster has also contributed to publications such as True/Slant, Austin Monthly, The Dallas Business Journal, The Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Weekly, The News Connection and others. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenCWebster.